Maxwell Institute Podcast

Maxwell Institute Conversations are special videocast episodes of the Maxwell Institute Podcast, hosted by Terryl Givens and created in collaboration with Faith Matters Foundation. In this episode Terryl Givens sits down with Kate Holbrook to talk about extraordinary women in Latter-day Saint history. About the Guest Kate Holbrook is Managing Historian of Women’s History at the LDS Church History Department and co-editor of At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women and the award-winning The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History. She also co-edited Women and Mormonism: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives and Global Values 101: A Short Course. For her dissertation work on religion and food, she received the first Eccles Fellowship in Mormon Studies at the University of Utah. Her current projects include a history of the LDS young women organization and a monograph on LDS foodways. The post MIConversations #3—Kate Holbrook with Terryl Givens, “Extraordinary Women in Mormon History” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

On the surface, forgiveness seems like such a simple concept but it can be one of the most difficult things we ever do. Maybe someone in your life has hurt you and you’ve never been able to forgive them. Maybe you’ve hurt someone else and they haven’t forgiven you. Maybe it’s time to see if that can change. Mpho Tutu van Furth joins us to talk about a book she co-wrote with her father Desmond Tutu. It’s called The Book of Forgiving. It’s an invitation and a step-by-step guide to walk what the Tutu’s call the four-fold path of forgiveness. Mpho recently visited Brigham Young University to speak at the Maxwell Institute’s symposium, “Forgiveness & Reconciliation.” The Institute’s own Dr. Deidre Green was the visionary of this truly remarkable gathering. If you missed it, you can watch several of the presentations on the Institute’s YouTube channel. About the Guest Mpho Tutu van Furth served as executive director at The Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation from 2011 to 2016. With her father, Desmond Tutu (former archbishop of South Africa, chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient), she co-authored The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World (HarperCollins, 2015). In 2014, the father and daughter pair started the Tutu Global Forgiveness Challenge, an internet resource that guides people through the steps of forgiveness. The post Forgiveness, with Mpho Tutu van Furth [MIPodcast #81] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Maxwell Institute Conversations are special videocast episodes of the Maxwell Institute Podcast, hosted by Terryl Givens and created in collaboration with Faith Matters Foundation. In this episode Terryl Givens sits down with Steven L. Peck, an award-winning author and scientist; one of the most bright and interesting Latter-day Saints you’ll ever meet. For Peck, as for Givens, Mormons need not fear scientific research because it can be a wonderful avenue for getting more acquainted with God. About the Guest Steven L. Peck is an evolutionary biologist, poet, and novelist. He is a professor of biology at Brigham Young University. Peck grew up in Moab, Utah and lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah. The post MIConversations #2—Steven Peck and Terryl Givens, “The God Who Marvels” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

How can scholars of religion explain religious faith without explaining it away? Over the centuries many scholars have come to discuss religion as a purely human phenomenon, leaving no room for “special beings” like God, Jesus Christ, angels, or departed loved ones. Robert Orsi confronts such scholarship in his new book History and Presence, inviting scholars to take the experiences of religious believers more seriously. But it’s a risky proposal. “Scholarship entails risk,” Orsi explains, “for the person whose world has been entered by the scholar, but for the scholar, too, whose own uncertainties ought to be on the line in the encounter.” Orsi recently visited the Maxwell Institute to talk about how scholars should take special presences more seriously. We talk about it in this special 80th episode of the Maxwell Institute Podcast. About the Guest Robert Orsi is the Grace Craddock Nagle Chair in Catholic Studies at Northwestern University. He has also taught at Fordham University, Indiana University, and Harvard Divinity School. He is former president of the American Academy of Religion. He studies American Catholicism and also writes on theory and method for the study of religion. His latest book History and Presence is an ambitious intervention into the field of religious studies. The post Robert Orsi on History and Presence [MIPodcast #80] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Maxwell Institute Conversations are special episodes of the Maxwell Institute Podcast, hosted by Terryl Givens and created in collaboration with Faith Matters Foundation. You can also watch this episode on YouTube. In the beginning, God said “let there be light,” and there was light. God created this extraordinary world, the scriptures tell us, through the power of his word. It makes all the more sense, then, that a professor of comparative arts and letters like George Handley would spend so much time thinking about and enjoying creation. In this conversation, LDS author and Humanities professor George Handley speaks with Terryl Givens about connecting with the divine through nature; about being a good steward of the earth; about the tragic death of his brother and the history of a river. He’s consecrated his life and talents to discovering and sharing what is good and beautiful. About the Guest George Handley is the associate dean in Brigham Young University’s College of Humanities. He is the author of several books, including Home Waters: A Year of Recompenses on the Provo River and the brand new novel, American Fork.   The post MIConversations #1—George Handley and Terryl Givens, “Can creation heal us?” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Americans in the early nineteenth century loved the writing of John Milton. Milton’s embrace of liberal individualism, meritocracy, and his championing of the right to free speech made him an easy sell to anti-British Americans. His epic poem Paradise Lost was a bestseller. Something like twenty editions of Paradise Lost were produced in America during the first half of the nineteenth century, which is right when Mormonism came on the scene. Milton also held some controversial views on the nature of the godhead, creation, and even polygamy. In this episode, Yale professor of English John Rogers discusses parallels and differences between Joseph Smith’s revelations and John Milton’s theology. Rogers recently visited BYU where he delivered a Maxwell Institute Guest Lecture called “Latter-Day Milton: Early Mormonism and the Political Theologies of Paradise Lost.” You can check that lecture out on the Institute’s YouTube channel. About the Guest A professor of English at Yale University, John Rogers is the author of Matter of Revolution: Science, Poetry, and Politics in the Age of Milton, a book awarded prizes by the Milton Society of America and the Modern Language Association. He is also author of several articles on Renaissance (mainly seventeenth-century) English literature and religious culture. His current projects include a book on the reading of the seventeenth-century poem Paradise Lost in the spiritual hothouse of nineteenth-century America, tentatively titled Latter-day Milton: Paradise Lost and the Creation of America’s God. The post Milton and early Mormonism, with John Rogers [MIPodcast #79] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Latter-day Saint historians have long demonstrated that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not established all at once, but that it has unfolded—line upon line, precept upon precept, to borrow a biblical phrase. Ideas about priesthood in Mormonism, for example, have developed in fascinating ways. In a new book from Oxford University Press, called The Power of Godliness: Mormon Liturgy and Ritual, Jonathan Stapley writes about LDS priesthood and ritual—everything from baby blessing and baptism, to temple sealings, and everything else in between. About the Guest Jonathan Stapley is an award-winning historian and scientist. An active participant in the field of Mormon studies, he is also the Chief Technology Officer for a bio-renewables company. His new book is called The Power of Godliness: Mormon Liturgy and Ritual (Oxford University Press). The post The development of LDS liturgy and cosmology, with Jonathan Stapley [MIPodcast #78] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

The Reverend Billy Graham rose to international prominence in the 1940s preaching an evangelical Christian gospel. Hailing from North Carolina, the charismatic preacher filled stadiums, counseled American presidents, and encouraged millions of people around the world to seek personal transformation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Historian Grant Wacker joins us to talk about Graham in this episode. Wacker visited Brigham Young University last year as part of the Maxwell Institute’s Reformation conference. He spoke with me about the landmark biography he wrote about Graham, America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation. About the Guest Grant Wacker is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor emeritus of Christian History at Duke University. He is author of the book America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation. In 2017 Wacker presented at the Maxwell Institute’s Reformation conference, “500 Years of Martin Luther.” The post Billy Graham and the shaping of a nation, with Grant Wacker [MIPodcast #77] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Adam Miller wrote Letters to a Young Mormon for thoughtful people yearning for a more thoughtful faith. It’s a little book, but it packs a powerful punch. In this episode, Miller is talks about the new second expanded edition, which the Maxwell Institute recently published in partnership with Deseret Book. We also talk about the perils of Mormon quasi-celebrity, bad book reviews, apologetics, his future projects, and other things. Stick around after the interview with Adam; we’ve got a special mini-episode with Institute visiting scholar Janiece Johnson asking for help with her current project. About the Guest Adam S. Miller is a professor of philosophy at Collin College in McKinney, Texas. He and his wife, Gwen, have three children. He is the author of many books, including Rube Goldberg Machines: Essays in Mormon Theology (Greg Kofford Books, 2012) and Speculative Grace: Bruno Latour and Object-Oriented Theology (Fordham University Press, 2013), and two editions of Letters to a Young Mormon (Maxwell Institute & Deseret Book, 2018). He also serves as the director of the Mormon Theology Seminar. The post Adam Miller on more Letters to a Young Mormon [MIPodcast #76] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

The Book of Mormon warns against mistaking intelligence for wisdom, but adds a crucial caveat: “to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God” (2 Nephi 9:29). Where LDS founding prophet Joseph Smith declared that a person is saved no faster than they get knowledge, historian Richard Bushman adds a corollary: A person gains knowledge no faster than they are saved. Bushman believes historical inquiry has made him a better Mormon, but he also believes being a Mormon has made him a better historian, too. In this episode,  Bushman gets autobiographical about his biography of Joseph Smith, talks about the rise of Mormon studies, and offers his perspective on the relationship between personal faith and professional scholarship. Bushman is one of the most distinguished and respected historians ever to call The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints his religious home. It was a real treat to sit down with him to talk about his career, his personal faith, his difficulties and successes. This episode coincides with the publication of To Be Learned Is Good: Essays on Faith and Scholarship in Honor of Richard Lyman Bushman. The book contains the edited proceedings of a 2016 scholars’ colloquium held in Bushman’s honor at Brigham Young University. Bushman wanted Latter-day Saint scholars to reflect on their work in the presence of non-LDS scholars, to think through the difficult issues in ways that spoke to larger questions about faith and reason. Learn more about the book or watch video of the presentations at mi.byu.edu/bushman. Learn more about the Summer Seminar on Mormon Culture here. About the Guest Richard Lyman Bushman is Gouverneur Morris Professor of History Emeritus at Columbia University and author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. He occupied the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University in California from 2008 to 2011. Before joining the faculty at Columbia University, Bushman received his BA and PhD degrees from Harvard University and taught at Brigham Young University, Brown University, Boston University, Harvard University (as a visiting professor), and the University of Delaware. Bushman has served as president of the Mormon History Association, as a member of the board of editors of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, as a council member for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, and as president of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. He chaired the advisory committee to the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at Brigham Young University, 1999–2004; and he chaired the board of directors of the Mormon Scholars Foundation until 2016. He is currently a member of the National Advisory Board for the Joseph Smith Papers project of the History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having served as a general editor from the project’s founding until 2013.The post “To be learned is good,” with Richard Bushman [MIPodcast #75] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.